Rotting Christ Studio Report
Lunatech Studio, Katerini, Greece
10/10/09
When recently Rotting Christ announced that they are in studio recording their new album, we couldn’t do nothing but call the frontman of the band Sakis to tell us what’s going on. Sakis informed Metalpaths that they have just finished the composing part of the songs and in this period of time they are recording and producing the new album at Lunatech Studios, on the feet of Olympus in Katerini, Greece.
As Sakis told us that some songs are already done, we couldn’t miss the chance to visit him in studio, listen to the new material and have a really interesting discussion about the new album and the future plans of the band. So, we got into the car and we traveled around 60klm from Thessaloniki to Katerini. When we arrived, what we found there was a really modern three-floor-house of the co-producer and sound engineer of the new Rotting Christ album, Dimitris, who also welcomed and got us in. While we were relaxing in a really comfortable sofa in the living room and drinking coffee, Sakis came in to welcome and lead us downstairs to the underground floor were was the studio. At first, we got really surprised by the really hyper-luxurious studio of Lunatech that is definitely one of the best that I have ever seen in Greece. Without wasting time, we sat and opened our ears to listen to the new album. Sakis told us that we could listen to just three songs – whose titles cannot be revealed yet – that are finished and one more that is not ready yet (without vocals) just to take a taste.
As we were listening to the first track, three words came into my mind; blood, fire and death! Guys, I don’t know what do you expect from the follower of the awesome “Theogonia”, but in my opinion, Rotting Christ in here went one step forward.
Musically, the first track was really heavy, atmospheric and 
epic but still dark, black and Rotting Christ. That’s the formula that the Greek blacksters use in all of the four songs that we listened to and into the entire album furthermore I guess. Basic characteristic of the songs are the traditional Greek music elements, the numerous samples and the orchestral parts that praises the Ancient Greece and will travel you into real battle-fields. The album smells war!
Going to the other tracks, we found some more than usual technical parts that identify once more the fact that Rotting Christ yet evolve even more their music. This album is an orgasm of melodic, catchy and heavy riffs with the well-known Rotting Christ formula as a background.
One of our questions during our interview with Sakis, was “How would you describe the new album to the fans?”
Sakis answer was just two words: “Heavy metal!”.
After all, if you think that the new album would be softer than Rotting Christ used to, you are wrong. You won’t stop bang your head mates. There are really fast tempos and lethal blast beats that keep the black metal roots. The production was exactly as I expected; well-worked but still dirty to keep the underground feeling.
In another question about the writing process Sakis told to Metalpaths:
“I was working really hard for this new record for around one year and a half. It wasn’t the easiest album that I wrote because there are lots of new elements as you see and I wanted everything to be perfect. It’s the most different Rotting Christ album I think but it’s still Rotting Christ. So it’s a big bet for me and I hope that the fans will like it. There are also some surprising guest appearances that I can’t reveal you at the moment and I hope you gonna like them”.
On the occasion of the 20 years anniversary of Rotting Christ we asked Sakis if he feels complete as a musician and his answer was:
“No man, definitely no! If I feel complete just for a second, be sure that I will stop and give an end to my career and Rotting Christ furthermore.”
So, to summarize, the new album of Rotting Christ – we could say that in one way – is a concept album about war. Musically you’ll see a lot of experimentations and surprises that I’m sure that you gonna like. Personally, we really enjoyed it! Stay tuned.
Karagiannidis Panagiotis.